Pocketbook has selected Grasshopper to provide its small- to medium-sized business (SMB) customers with white-labeled, FDIC-insured commercial checking accounts.The rollout of the products offered by this new partnership was also facilitated by Treasury Prime , the companies said in a Tuesday (March 5) press release .“Pocketbook exists to serve as a trusted partner for small business owners,” Bryan Crumpler , co-founder and CEO of Pocketbook, said in the release. “We are dedicated to developing the right tools to free up valuable time for hard-working entrepreneurs so they can grow their businesses and leave the rest to us.”The company’s white-label embedded financial solution provides payments, banking and business tools to SMBs, according to the release.To give its customers secure access to commercial checking accounts, Pocketbook partnered with Grasshopper, a digital bank built for the business and innovation economy, the release said.The two companies also partnered with Treasury Prime, provider of an embedded banking software platform, per the release. Treasury Prime and Grasshopper will work together to manage the operations and money movement via an application programming interface (API) integration with Pocketbook.Together, the companies went from project kickoff to live onboarding in less than 65 days, the release said.“This partnership extends each company’s commitment to providing clients with leading digital products to better support their banking capabilities, including the fundamental aspects of business payments,” the press release said. “Grasshopper and Treasury Prime identified Pocketbook as a valuable partner in ensuring small businesses can operate their business under a unified platform across initiating payments, sending invoices, accepting payments and more.”In an earlier collaboration, Pocketbook said in March 2023 that it partnered with Bond to help SMBs deploy digital wallets .In that case, by adding Bond’s embedded finance platform to Pocketbook’s own solution, Pocketbook enabled its customers to accept payments directly from their own branded digital wallet.Meanwhile, Grasshopper said in July that it teamed up with Cable to equip its clients and banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform with automation and technology for financial crime assurance, testing and oversight.In that collaboration, Grasshopper began leveraging Cable’s automated assurance and testing capabilities

Financial services company College Ave has launched a secured credit card for college students.The new Ambition Mastercard is designed to help students 18 years and older build and establish a positive credit history, College Ave said in a Tuesday (Jan. 30) press release emailed to PYMNTS.The card joins the other products and services offered by College Ave, which has partnered with FIS-owned embedded finance platform Bond to develop financial solutions for college students and their families.“Our goal with the Ambition card is to give students a smart and safe tool so they can put their best financial foot forward,” Joe DePaulo, co-founder and CEO of College Ave, said in the release.The Ambition card requires no credit check to qualify, according to the release. Students can establish the credit limit by transferring money to the secured credit card from their checking or savings account.The card has no interest charges, no late fees and no fees to apply, the release said. There is no monthly fee for the first six months; after that, the account will be charged $2 each month.The Ambition card also enables students to earn cash back and to build a positive credit history, as on-time payments are reported to the three major credit bureaus, per the release.“When a student heads off to college, they are not just earning a college degree. They’re taking the first steps toward adulthood, including becoming more financially independent,” DePaulo said in the release. “We are excited to launch the Ambition card and give these students a head start in building a positive credit history.”PYMNTS Intelligence has found that young consumers are seeking financial knowledge from diverse sources, including social media, financial education apps/tools, family, friends, and traditional channels like bank branches and financial advisers.This has created an opportunity for companies to help these consumers build credit and teach them lifelong skills, according to “The New Challenges Facing Finance: Algorithms, Finfluencers and the Quest for Reliability,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and NCR VOYIX collaboration.In another recent product introduction in this space, financial wellness platform Credit Sesame said in August that it launched a Mastercard debit card that helps individuals build and enhance their credit scores through their everyday debit purchases.The Sesame Credit Builder is designed to eliminate obstacles for those with limited credit history and equip them with the tools to establish a positive payment history